Returning Home
by Valant
Summary: After a year spent in Azkaban prison, Lucius Malfoy is finally able to return home, where Narcissa dutifully awaits. LMxNM oneshot.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own the Harry Potter series or characters, but I do love them dearly c:

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The sun had long since set when Lucius Malfoy walked wearily up the driveway to the manor he hardly been able to call home for the past year. Four Aurors guided him roughly towards the door, two on either side of him, with their wands at the ready. That was less to prevent him from attempting an escape or attacking, he thought, than it was to keep the Dementor that followed behind them, more than ready to administer its Kiss if necessary, under control. Lucius, however, paid the monster no mind. After just over a year in Azkaban prison, he had grown used to the chill and feelings of sorrow the Dementors would always bring with them.

As they neared the mansion, something silvery could be seen shining at the doorstep. "The Patronus of the manor's mistress...?" questioned one of the Aurors. Lucius stayed silent. The Patronus before him, which upon closer inspection had taken the shape of a peacock, wasn't one that he recognized, but there was only one person it could possibly belong to. Narcissa was still waiting for him; waiting in the cold castle of a manor where he had left her.

The Dementor stayed at bay, unable to pass the Patronus. One of the Aurors left Lucius's side and knocked harshly several times before pushing the door open and leading the prisoner inside.

"Narcissa..." His voice came as a harsh whisper. At last, for the first time in a year, he would see his beloved again.

As soon as she heard the sound of the doors creaking open and the voices of the Aurors, Narcissa rushed downstairs, her own wand in hand. She had been expecting them for days, ever since she had received the letter informing her of her husband's early release. Since then, every moment of her time was spent preparing herself for his return.

Narcissa walked with composure and confidence towards the Auror at the head of the group. Despite their attempts to shield him from her, she didn't fail to notice that Lucius didn't so much as look her direction as she approached.

"Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy," the Auror addressed her. "First, if you will please accept this." The cloaked man handed to her the cane that concealed Lucius's wand. Never breaking eye contact with the Auror and giving him a disdainful glare, she obeyed. The man nodded and continued, "Prisoner 537, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, is hereby officially and legally granted an early release from Azkaban Prison with the full consent and approval of the Ministry of Magic..."

He proceeded with this brief speech formally, speaking his lines exactly as they must have been scripted. When he had finished, he stepped aside and two of his companions lead Lucius forward, roughly shoving him towards Narcissa. Possessing neither the will nor the strength to keep standing after this display, Lucius fell to his knees in front of her. It had felt liked centuries since he had last set eyes on familiar surroundings, and even longer since he had caught a glimpse of the woman he adored, and yet he still found himself without the courage to face her.

"Now, if you would sign this so as to give us legal documentation..." The Auror conjured a quill and ink for her to use, and she quickly signed her name to the parchment he had handed her.

"Will that be all...?" she asked quietly.

"Unless you have any questions, our business here is finished." At that, under Narcissa's icy glare, the four Aurors left the manor.

Once she was certain the group had successfully Disapparated, taking the Dementor far away with them, she raised her want to dismiss her Patronus. However, one look at her husband, never having moved from the floor where the Aurors had thrown him, told her that that was unwise. Instead, she approached him with caution. While she would love him no matter what, she had no way to guess just what sort of damage his confinement in Azkaban had done to him. She extended her free hand, doing her utmost to show him a loving smile. "Lucius, why don't we go upstairs to the bedroom for now?" Her tone was gentle, as much so as it could possibly be, yet awkward. She had been given more than a week to prepare for this encounter, but Lucius's constant silence and her own nervousness made her unsure of how she should speak to him at the moment, or how to take care of him.

Without a word, Lucius took her hand and stood, allowing her to lead him to the manor's second floor.

"...I'll fix you a drink and something to eat, if you like, as soon as you have a place to lie down..."

Narcissa.

"...I'll cut your hair tonight as well, if you want me to; it's really gotten so long this past year..."

Narcissa.

"...But I'm sure you would rather just rest, now, wouldn't you? Just tell me to leave you alone and I will, really..."

Narcissa.

Lucius comprehended little of what she was saying. It didn't matter. Her presence alone was more than enough for him, and her very touch, that simple human warmth he hadn't felt in a year, was almost too much for him to bear. He should have felt horrible, he knew, for how miserable he had obviously made her in the past months, and how alone she must have felt. He should have stopped her right there on the staircase and held her, telling her that everything would be alright now. He _should_ have, but he could not bring himself to give up even for a moment the feeling of her soft skin on his own, exactly the way he remembered it, and the sweet sound of her voice.

It wasn't until Narcissa let go of him to open the door to their bedroom that Lucius spoke loud enough for her to take notice. "Cissa..."

"Oh! Y-yes, dear...?"

Now that he spoken, Lucius was no longer sure how to proceed. He had so much he wanted to say to her, but no idea where or how to begin. "Your Patronus..."

"Oh yes, I was just as surprised as you must have been to see that it had changed! I've heard of that happening, of course, when someone is under extreme stress or pressure, but I never thought _mine_ would... I suppose if yours has remained the same after...After everything, then... Then they make a set, no?" Narcissa asked almost innocently.

"Yes, they do... But Narcissa, I'll be honest, I... I was surprised to see it there at the doorstep. It would have been so much easier if you had simply moved on after I was imprisoned; if you hated me for all the grief I've brought you..."

"Lucius, don't tell me you've been thinking those things the whole time...?" she whispered. Hearing this confession from him made it increasingly difficult for her to hold back tears. She had promised herself since the day of his trial that when at last he was released, she would absolutely not cry in front of him, and Narcissa intended to keep her word.

"I didn't want to, believe me, but... But being surrounded by those... Those _monsters_ day and night, I couldn't help it... Narcissa, you can't possibly understand what it's like..."

"That's very true; I _don't_ know what it's like... But I do know what it's like to be away from someone I love for so long," she said, managing a small smile. "I'm your wife, Lucius. That means I'll always be loyal to you, that I'll always be waiting for you here. I _love _you, and I'd never—"

Those words were all it took. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he kissed his wife with greater passion than he had in ages, his fingers tangling in her dark hair, wanting nothing more than the be close to her.

He had taken Narcissa by surprise completely, causing her to let the two wands she was holding fall to the floor. While she wasn't about to deny any intimate contact with him, these somehow weren't the kisses she remembered; that she had thought about daily for the past year. Before his trial, even when engaged in such moments of passion, Lucius had always taken a certain kind of gentleness with her that she now did not feel. Even so, the intense feeling behind his kisses was _exactly_ as she remembered.

She forcefully placed a hand against his chest until he relented, and took a step back from her. "Cissa...?" he questioned weakly.

Narcissa took her time picking up the fallen wands from the floor and placing them on her nightstand. She sat down on the bed and motioned for Lucius to do the same. He had no choice but to obey, and as soon as he did so, he felt her warm hands upon his own once more. "Lucius... I won't deny that I've been wishing for you to kiss me again for months, but I have to request that you be patient with me... I know I have no right to say this, not after everything you've been through, but I really do miss just how... How _gentle_ you always were, even when you kissed me so fervently, you— Oh, I'm so sorry, Lucius, I'm just being selfish..."

"No, you're not," he whispered softly. "I'd forgotten just how fragile you may be when I returned, and for that you'll have to forgive me. Though I'm afraid it might take me some time yet to readjust to... Well, everything, I imagine."

"That's just fine. I...I'll always support you Lucius, and I do want to help you... I-if you'll allow it, that is."

"Allow it...? No, Narcissa, I_ need_ it. After all, I sincerely believe that if it weren't for you and Draco and my memories of the two of you, I would surely have gone mad in Azkaban, like so many others before me..."

Narcissa could help but withdraw just slightly; just enough for Lucius to notice, and bit her lip. Draco. There was simply no way she was ready to tell her husband just what had happened concerning their son, and she was certain he wasn't ready to hear it.

"He... He will be home soon, won't he?"

"Y-yes, of course he will. Less than a week now..." Narcissa answered him tentatively.

"I'm truly looking forward to seeing him again... Tell me, how has he been doing without a father to look after him?"

"Well, he... He's tried to be strong, of course, but to be honest this past year has been just as difficult for him as it has for me." The fondness with which he spoke of the boy made it increasingly difficult for Narcissa to withhold the full truth from him. He deserved to know, she understood, but she simply couldn't; not when she so feared how he would react to learning that Draco, his only son, had been punished for Lucius's own mistake, and not when it meant breaking her vow of silence to the Dark Lord for a third time.

Lucius grimaced. So not only had he failed his wife, he thought, but also his beloved son. "Narcissa, I... I'm so sorry..." he confessed, his voice soft. "I know that's not nearly enough— "

"Darling, it's okay. Don't." In one swift motion, she released his hands from her grasp and pulled him into a warm embrace. "I forgive you, and I know Draco will too. You don't need to apologize for anything."

Despite her comforting words, Lucius continued to whisper his most sincere apologies for everything he'd done and for everything in which he felt he'd failed his family. With shaking hands, he held her closer and more tightly to him. This, Narcissa realized, was the only way he had to conceal the tears he so desperately wished to hide from her.

Narcissa knew better than to speak before he addressed her. The best she could do for her husband was to simply allow him to mutter his feeble apologies onto her shoulder for as long as he needed to.

"Cissa..." came his choked murmur, "I really haven't changed, have I...? F-from the war so long ago...?"

Narcissa considered her words carefully. Her thoughts turned towards the first war, in which he had relied on her more than ever; in which she had seen him, for the first time, feeling defenseless and defeated. "Perhaps not," she conceded, to Lucius's mild surprise. She had always been the one to refute those few negative claims he would make against himself when alone with her, and very rarely would she agree with his judgments. "But perhaps you have, as well. What I mean to say, Lucius, is that it doesn't matter. I love you all the same."

Slowly, he relaxed his hold on her and pulled away at last, finally able to look clearly at the woman he adored through his reddened, tear-stained eyes. "I'm so very lucky to have you, Narcissa."

"I know," she agreed, a slight laugh present in her voice.

Hearing this, Lucius as well managed a small smile of his own. She was right. To him, at that moment, he felt that nothing mattered but her, and he couldn't imagine it any other way.

"Lucius..." she leaned towards him, closing her eyes, and softly pressed her lips against his, silently hoping that he'd return her kiss.

Though hesitant, Lucius complied with his wife's wordless request. He could feel Narcissa's smile beneath his lips, and as she lay back on the bed, pulling him with her, his gentle kisses didn't cease for an instant.


End file.
